San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Brett Brown has emerged as the favorite in the Philadelphia 76ers' search for a head coach, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday.

According to the Inquirer's Keith Pompey, Boston Celtics assistant coach Jay Larranaga remains one of the "serious contenders" for the position, along with Portland Trail Blazers assistant David Vanterpool and Philadelphia assistant Michael Curry.

That meshes with a similar report Wednesday on PhillyBurbs.com listing all four of the aforementioned candidates as the top contenders to replace Doug Collins.

Earlier this week, Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reported how Vanterpool has risen into legitimate contention during Philadelphia's thorough search. Wojnarowski wrote that Larranaga and Brown are also "among the coaches who have made strong impressions in the process."

If Larranaga does not land the Philadelphia job, he will be one of two holdovers from Doc Rivers' staff (Jamie Young is the other). New Celtics head coach Brad Stevens has also reportedly added respected veteran assistant Ron Adams, as well as Micah Shrewsberry and Ronald Nored, who both have Butler ties. Nored will reportedly work in player development and his role will include working with the Celtics' D-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws. It's not yet clear how the Celtics will utilize Drew Cannon, a 23-year old statistical guru who worked under Stevens at Butler last season.